By Mandy Barrett and Jo Blaker.

In this first of a series of 3 posts, Teacher Mandy Barrett and Artist Jo Blaker journey on a project that considers the materials and structures of nests. In this first post the class were invited to use inventive and exploratory ways of making marks using a range of drawing tools and ink.

Click on the links to post two: Observational Ink Drawing and post three: Nests with Dry and Wet Media.

To access all content, I would like to join as…

An Individual

Creative practitioners, educators, teachers, parents, learners…

From £3.50

An Organisation…

Schools, Colleges, Arts Organisations: Single and Multi-Users

From £42

AccessArt is a UK Charity and we believe everyone has the right to be creative. AccessArt provides inspiration to help us all reach our creative potential.

See This Resource Used In Schools…

You May Also Like…

Pathway: Sculpture, Structure, Inventiveness & determination

This is featured in the ‘Sculpture, Structure, Inventiveness & Determination’ pathway

Talking Points: What can we learn from birds

Drawing source material: nests

See the Resource Used in Schools…

You May Also Like…

Pathway: Making Monotypes

This is featured in the ‘Making Monotypes’ pathway

Talking points: What is a monotype?

Talking Points: Kevork Mourad

See This Resource Used In Schools…

You May Also Like…

Pathway: Gestural Drawing with charcoal

This is featured in the ‘Gestural Drawing with Charcoal’ pathway

Talking points: Edgar degas

Talking Points: What is Chiaroscuro?

Pathway: Cave Art

Session Recording: exploring Charcoal

See This Resource Used In Schools…

What We Like About This Resource….

“This activity walks through a number of different processes and taps into multiple skills.This provides a rich exploratory project for children to fully immerse themselves in. Cezanne was the focus artist for this project, but other contemporary still life painters could be used as starter inspiration. We actually advocate showing the work of more than one artist as this builds knowledge of how approaches to painting, drawing etc differ. This also helps children move towards a personal response rather than creating a ‘copy’ of one particular artist’s work” – Rachel, AccessArt

You Might Also Like….

Pathway: Exploring Still Life

This is featured in the ‘Explore Still Life’ pathway

talking points: Flemish and Dutch Still Life Painters

Talking Points: Paul Cezanne

talking points: Contemporary still life

What We Like About This Resource….

“We really enjoyed reading about the process of creating art work according to a design brief and how the experience of this differs to when an artist begins with their own idea or concept. That’s not to say an artist can’t approach a brief with their own individual style and ideas, but what this post shows us is that there can be a balance between the two. This would be a great resource to show older KS pupils who may be beginning to consider their options beyond Primary School”. – Rachel, AccessArt

You Might Also Like….

Pathway: 2D Drawing to 3D Making

This is featured in the ‘2D Drawing to 3D Making’ pathway

Talking Points: Packaging Design

What is Typography

Which Artist: Rachel Parker

Repeating Patterns

Block Printing Repeat Patterns

What We Like About This Resource….

“It’s always so inspiring to hear how different artists work and we particularly like the detailed references Jake makes to his process – marking out the composition using neutral tones; adding and taking away compositional elements and gradually building in more colour and detail. Delivering a still life session in a classroom could begin with this process and encourage the practice of looking at positive and negative space. Some suggested resources below also touch on this”. – Rachel, AccessArt

You Might Also Like….

Tackling Still Life for Children

Drawing Negative Space

Visual Arts Planning: Still Life

What We Like About This Resource….

“There’s a really fun element to this activity which is you can imagine all children really enjoying! The idea of food on large scale is a great starter for a sculpture project and an early exploration of working in 3D. What’s really positive to see in this project is how the children used their sketchbooks to design their ice creams prior to working in 3D. They then had the opportunity to re visit and refine their ideas as they worked. This provides a sold foundation for the concept of design development and design through making- both of which underpin any visual arts or design project or profession. For more support on how to develop sketchbook practice in your setting please see our Sketchbook Journey” – Rachel, AccessArt

You Might Also Like….

Art Club Cafe

Communal Drawing: Summer Picnic

Redesigning Food Packaging